The original complex of Royal Holloway, part of the University of London, is a grand 19th century red brick building dressed in stone by W.H. Crossland. The site also includes another building by Crossland, a boiler house, which was until 1968 used to provide the university’s heat and power. The Royal Holloway drama department took over the building and decided to turn it into a centre for experimental theatre. Burrell Foley Fischer won a competition to undertake the conversion. 

The brief was not to create any sort of auditorium; instead the space was to be left bare so that it could be filled with the imaginations of the theatre directors. The interior of the boiler house was acoustically insulated, weatherproofed and given a new sprung floor, but otherwise the 'found' aesthetic is retained.

The Boilerhouse Theatre accommodates undergraduates, postgraduates and theatre professionals, providing them with a unique space in which to try out new approaches to theatre practice. It offers:

• a powerhouse for new creative work in the field of performance

• a versatile space for the development and documentation of new theatre practice

• an inspirational venue where theatre professionals, students, scholars and alumni can collaborate in making new work

• a synthesis of multimedia technology and the atmosphere of a unique Victorian building